Chapter 369: The Economics of Controlling the World
It's just that the time has come.

Zhang Juzheng couldn't help feeling a little reluctant.

after all.

The current city of Beijing is the power center of the Ming Dynasty.

If he left here, his plan to promote reforms in the court would be delayed. What was even more serious was that with his departure from Beijing, the officials who had originally gathered in the court to support the reforms would probably also be affected.

Not to mention that these people may be implicated, it is also unclear whether they will continue to support the reform in the future.

But the topic raised by Yan Shaoting at this time obviously attracted the emperor's attention.

Zhang Juzheng and others.

Naturally, it can be seen that although the matter raised by Yan Shaoting seemed to only involve gold and silver and other yellow and white things, it was still related to reforms.

after all.

If the imperial court really wanted to go out to sea to mine the gold and silver island in the sea of ​​Japan, it would be a first in the Ming Dynasty.

And according to what Yan Shaoting said, the imperial court will certainly further increase its investment in the navy to build warships and recruit soldiers and sailors.

The Ming Dynasty will become more and more inclined towards the ocean in the future.

After all, at present, the imperial court can directly earn tens of millions of yuan every year through overseas silk trade. If the income from trade after the opening of the sea is added, the value is immeasurable.

have to say.

The idea that Yan Shaoting came up with for himself was a good one.

But eventually he needed to stay away from the imperial court, the place where the reform policies could be implemented from top to bottom.

Because he hated Zhang Juzheng, who was fighting with Xu Jie in the court, he was in a dilemma.

And on the Taotai.

However, Jiajing was calculating another account in his mind.

After all, Jiajing was still the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he had other things to consider besides money and food.

He could not help but speak slowly: "I was just thinking, the court is now engaged in the silk trade, and has opened up the sea for trade, the court will certainly get more and more gold and silver. If it is just for the so-called gold and silver island in the sea of ​​Japan, it will be a bit wasteful to urge the navy to supervise the construction of warships. Even if all the gold and silver are brought back, the prices of daily necessities for the people of the world will inevitably rise."

This is the simplest economic common sense.

Even Jiajing could see it clearly.

Yan Shaoting immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. If we only mine gold and silver overseas and earn gold and silver through trade with overseas countries, the prices of goods in our dynasty will inevitably rise as your majesty said because of the large influx of gold and silver. At that time, the people of our dynasty will have to bear the increased prices in vain."

Jiajing glanced at Yan Shaoting.

There was a smile on his face.

I don't have as many ways and ideas to make money as this guy, but I am good at judging and employing people.

Jiajing immediately laughed faintly: "It seems that you have found a way to solve this problem."

Jiajing had a big smile on his face.

He had the best judgment on Yan Shaoting.

If this guy hadn't thought of a foolproof solution, he wouldn't have brought up this matter in such a hurry.

And this is exactly the reason why I have always valued this kid.

Even Zhang Juzheng glanced over.

He really couldn't imagine how Yan Shaoting could take into account the influx of gold and silver that would lead to rising prices in the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time keep this matter connected with future reforms.

This is a big problem.

Even at the moment, I couldn't think of a solution for the time being.

Fish and bear's paw.

After all, it is difficult to have both.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Yan Shaoting calmly, but he didn't have much expectation in his heart.

Yan Shaoting was neither anxious nor flustered and seemed very calm.

He spoke slowly in front of the old Taoist priest and Lao Zhang.

"I think that if we want to solve this problem, we must first circulate it."

A well-known thing.

That is, only when money circulates can it be called money and can it play its original role.

If it can't circulate, it's just a pile of metal.

It will not have any effect at all, and will only raise prices and increase the burden on the people.

In fact, this statement was not difficult to understand for Jiajing and Zhang Juzheng.

Jiajing frowned and said, "The imperial court has always issued decrees that privately storing gold and silver is not allowed, and gold and silver are not allowed to be buried with the dead. But this is the custom in the Central Plains. How can it be changed in a short time?"

Yan Shaoting shook his head.

"Your Majesty, when I say circulation, I don't mean to circulate the money within our dynasty, but to use the increasing amount of banknotes in the future to convert them into various goods and circulate them overseas."

These words immediately caught Zhang Juzheng's attention.

He immediately asked, "How does it work? How does it make sense to ship goods overseas?"

Yan Shaoting glanced sideways at Zhang Juzheng.

Then he looked at the old Taoist priest above him and continued to explain: "I think that if the court simply issues an edict, it will be difficult to change the current situation in the country. But the court can push things from top to bottom, so that our country can produce more goods of all kinds."

Speaking of this, Yan Shaoting's face revealed a strong sense of pride.

He was dignified and confident as he said, "Looking across the world, there are many countries standing side by side, but only our Ming Dynasty can look down upon the world. The products produced by our dynasty are sought after by all the countries. A piece of official kiln porcelain can attract many foreign merchants, and if the porcelain is larger and has higher specifications, foreign merchants are willing to pay millions of gold to buy it. Not to mention the exquisite silk, lacquerware and other products produced by our dynasty. I have looked around all the countries, and no country can have them. And this will surely become the real weapon for our dynasty to dominate the world!"

this moment.

Yan Shaoting is so confident.

because.

What he said is the truth.

At this moment, it is a sales market that belongs exclusively to Central China.

Yan Shaoting continued in a slow tone: "Although our dynasty is vast and rich in resources, there are also many things that our dynasty cannot produce. Such as Southeast Asian spices, Western gems, not to mention the gold, silver, copper, iron, and even the giant trees in the mountains that are easy to mine and have always been in short supply in our dynasty.

“The imperial court only needs to issue decrees to encourage the people of our dynasty to produce finished products on a large scale, and then use the sea routes that are now open to trade to transport our products to overseas countries, and then exchange them with the locals for all the raw materials needed by our dynasty and bring them back.

Among them, our dynasty will certainly have the upper hand. Once this matter is handled properly, it won’t take many years, maybe only three to five years, for the overseas countries to become inseparable from our dynasty, and they will all rely on our dynasty for survival in the future.”

Trade restrictions.

This is what Yan Shaoting really wanted to say.

Use trade monopoly to truly control overseas countries, and then use the goods produced in large quantities by the Ming Dynasty to control these regions and plunder those raw materials.

Once this is done.

At least looking ahead, in the next few decades, Ming Dynasty will be the only country that controls the world.

Yan Shaoting paused, took a breath, and then said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is the circulation method I want to talk about."

On the Taotai, Jiajing was still thinking about the pros, cons and possibilities of this matter.

But Zhang Juzheng had already come to his senses.

Once this thing is really done.

Then there will be no more resistance to any reform. The reason why the court has so much resistance to reform is entirely because the interests of the Central Plains have long been divided among everyone.

No one is willing to give up the benefits in their hands.

But if we follow the method Yan Shaoting said, then we just need to accomplish this task, and the overseas benefits in the future will inevitably exceed the benefits that can be produced in the Central Plains.

even……

Perhaps one day, people all over the world will no longer need to pay land tax!

Because the imperial court can completely rely on overseas interests to support the world!
That is the true world of great harmony where everyone who tills the land owns it!

Do not!
Zhang Juzheng quickly rejected his idea.

Because it's more than that.

But when that day really comes, perhaps people all over the world will give up farming and turn to producing things that can be sold overseas.

Land has truly become something worthless and no one cares about it.

It seems that there is a feasible solution to the thousand-year-old dilemma in the Central Plains.

Zhang Juzheng was filled with shock.

Although this is just a hypothesis, it at least gives people a chance to think about it.

He immediately suppressed his excitement and said in a deep voice: "So what Guest Yan said today, that the navy supervised the construction of warships and went out to sea to control the gold and silver islands in the sea of ​​Japan so that our dynasty could mine on them, was not a complete plan, but just the beginning?"

Yan Shaoting glanced at Lao Zhang, who seemed to understand his true intention, and nodded.

"Grand Secretary, I am discussing this matter with your Majesty because if we want to make this happen and allow our products to be sold overseas and plundered, we need a strong navy to protect the safety and interests of our officials and people overseas."

After getting Yan Shaoting's affirmative answer.

Zhang Juzheng immediately adjusted his attitude, clasped his hands together, and looked at Jiajing on the platform.

"Your Majesty, although I am not as knowledgeable as Guest Yan about overseas affairs, what Guest Yan said today is in line with common sense. Once the goods produced by our dynasty can be sold abroad on a large scale, it won't take long, at most three to five years, and the places where our dynasty's goods sweep the world will inevitably be inseparable from our dynasty. Once this place is disrespectful, our dynasty can cut off the passage of goods and immediately cause chaos here, and our dynasty will not have to spend a single soldier!"

This is the true art of checks and balances!

While Zhang Juzheng was surprised, his evaluation of Yan Shaoting was infinitely elevated.

this moment.

In Zhang Juzheng's mind, Yan Shaoting truly had the ability to serve the country and would be able to enter the cabinet and become prime minister in the future, and work with him to govern the Ming Dynasty into a prosperous era that would last forever.

With Zhang Juzheng standing up for his words.

Yan Shaoting breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Old Zhang did have some vision.

He raised his head and looked at the old Taoist priest again: "Your Majesty, the reason why I opened various businesses in Changping Academy is actually to encourage the children of the people to learn more skills and bring more new things and new goods to our dynasty in the future. We can use these goods to sweep overseas countries."

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng had forgotten about the reform and whether he should leave the capital.

He clasped his hands tightly together and said, "Your Majesty, I think the court should issue an edict to announce to the world that all new things can be encouraged by the court. If anyone can create new things, they can be rewarded with money. Once these new things can be mass-produced and sold overseas, the court can issue an edict to praise them!"

Zhang Juzheng's eyes flickered. Although the Ming Dynasty currently had a lot of goods, only if the Ming Dynasty could produce more could it better control the overseas countries.

He even began to get a little excited and said, "If one day, all the food, clothing, housing, transportation, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea of ​​overseas countries need to rely on our dynasty to sell, then our dynasty's kingly way will be able to proclaim its power to the world, and it will truly reach the point where all nations will come to pay tribute, and Your Majesty will be the common ruler of the world!"

As soon as these words came out.

On the Taotai, Jiajing, who was still thinking about what Yan Shaoting said today about the method of controlling the circulation of the world, couldn't help but tremble in his heart.

All nations come to court.

The common master of the world!

This is a great achievement that far exceeds the expansion of territory and the achievement of civil and military affairs.

Why did Li Shimin, the former Emperor Taizong of Tang, become a model for later kings? The title of Heavenly Khan added a lot to his reputation.

Yan Shaoting couldn't help but glance sideways at Zhang Juzheng.

Unexpectedly, Lao Zhang could have such great ambitions.

He immediately smiled and said: "In fact, if our dynasty manages it properly, the affairs outside the Great Wall can also follow this method, so that the Mongols and Liao people outside the Great Wall can be used by our dynasty, and they will never be able to leave our dynasty and need to rely on our dynasty's wings."

In fact, the Longqing Conference held a few years later followed this approach.

The current situation in Liaodong is stable most of the time for this reason, as the imperial court has been issuing trade documents to tribes outside the Great Wall.

No one is really willing to put their head on the line and go against the Ming Dynasty.

of course.

Yan Shaoting also knew that what he said was blocking out the internal problems of the Ming Dynasty.

One thing that has to be admitted.

In border areas, those who hold military and political power are often doing the dirty work of nurturing the enemy and enriching themselves.

In fact, this principle is easy to understand.

If there were no trouble at the border all day, there would be peace every year.

How could the imperial court willingly allocate such a huge amount of money and grain?
Here.

Yan Shaoting had to name someone in Liaodong.

Although he did make contributions to the court in the early stage, he gradually became arrogant in the later stage, and finally he made a mistake by harboring the enemy.

The final outcome is.

The Ming Dynasty completely lost control of Liaodong, which was caused by the Tartar invasion.

In fact, at the beginning, the imperial court in Liaodong played the role of referee, balancing the disputes among various tribes and parties, maintaining friendly relations with all parties, and conducting trade with both sides.

Just some people...

Haha!

Yan Shaoting couldn't help but spit in his heart.

But let me explain this in two different ways.

The inner hall of Wanshou Palace.

Yan Shaoting looked at the old Taoist priest and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, if this is accomplished, it will not only be comparable to the achievement of expanding territory, but once it is accomplished, all nations will have to rely on our dynasty. The prosperity of a country depends on your words!"

On the platform.

Jiajing took a deep breath and then let out a long exhale.

His eyes flickered as he looked at Yan Shaoting and Zhang Juzheng.

In his opinion.

These two men are rare capable ministers in the court. They are both very young and can work in the court for decades.

He immediately said in a deep voice: "Can this really be accomplished?"

"I can look forward to seeing all nations come to pay tribute one day."

Yan Shaoting raised his eyebrows.

Glancing at the old Taoist priest.

This is shameless!

…………

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(End of this chapter)